The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 68

_Obs._--This stew has every claim to the attention of the rational epicure, being one of those in which "frugality," "nourishment," and "palatableness," are most happily combined; and you get half a gallon of excellent broth into the bargain.

We advise the mistress of the table to call it "ragout beef:" this will ensure its being eaten with unanimous applause; the homely appellation of "s.h.i.+n of beef stewed," is enough to give your genteel eater the locked jaw.

"Remember, when the judgment's weak, the prejudice is strong."

Our modern epicures resemble the ancient,[309-*] who thought the dearest dish must be the most delicious:

----"And think all wisdom lies In being impertinently nice."

Thus, they reckon turtle and punch to be "sheventy-foive per shent" more inviting than mock turtle and good malt liquor: however bad the former may be, and however good the latter, we wish these folks could be made to understand, that the soup for each, and all the accompaniments, are precisely the same: there is this only difference, the former is commonly made with a "starved turtle" (see Notes at the foot of page 220), the latter with a "fatted calf." See Nos. 247, 343, and 343*.

The scarcity of tolerably good cooks ceases to be surprising, when we reflect how much more astonis.h.i.+ng is the ignorance of most of those who a.s.sume the character of scientific gourmands,[309-+] so extremely ignorant of "the affairs of the mouth," they seem hardly to "know a sheep's head from a carrot;" and their real pretensions to be profound palaticians, are as moderate as the wine-merchant's customer, whose sagacity in the selection of liquors was only so exquisite, that he knew that Port wine was black, and that if he drank enough of it, it would make him drunk.

_Brisket of Beef stewed._--(No. 494.)

This is prepared in exactly the same way as "soup and bouilli." See Nos.

5, 238, or 493.

_Haricot of Beef._--(No. 495.)

A stewed brisket cut in slices, and sent up with the same sauce of roots, &c., as we have directed for haricot of mutton (No. 489), is a most excellent dish, of very moderate expense.

_Savoury Salt Beef baked._--(No. 496.)

The tongue side of a round of beef is the best bit for this purpose: if it weighs fifteen pounds, let it hang two or three days; then take three ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of coa.r.s.e sugar, a quarter of an ounce of black pepper, and the same of allspice (some add a quarter of an ounce of ginger, or No. 457), and some minced sweet and savoury herbs (No. 459), and three quarters of a pound of common salt; incorporate these ingredients by pounding them together in a mortar; then take the bone out, and rub the meat well with the above mixture, turning it and rubbing it every day for a fortnight.

When you dress it, put it into a pan with a quart of water; cover the meat with about three pounds of mutton suet[310-*] shredded rather thick, and an onion or two minced small; cover the whole with a flour crust to the top or brim of the pan, and let it be baked in a moderate-heated oven for about six hours: (or, just cover it with water, and let it stew very gently for about five hours, and when you send it to table, cover the top of it with finely chopped parsley.) If the beef weighs more, put a proportional addition of all the ingredients.

The gravy you will find a strong _consomme_, excellent for sauce or soup; or making soy, or browning, see No. 322, and being impregnated with salt, will keep several days.

This joint should not be cut till it is cold: and then, with a sharp knife, to prevent waste, and keep it even and comely to the eye.

_Obs._--This is a most excellent way of preparing and dressing beef (No.

503), and a savoury dish for sandwiches, &c. In moderate weather it will keep good for a fortnight after it is dressed: it is one of the most economical and elegant articles of ready-dressed keeping provisions; deserving the particular attention of those families who frequently have accidental customers dropping in at luncheon or supper.

_Curries._--(No. 497; see also No. 249.)

Cut fowls or rabbits into joints, and wash them clean: put two ounces of b.u.t.ter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, put in the meat, and two middling-sized onions sliced, let them be over a smart fire till they are of a light brown, then put in half a pint of broth; let it simmer twenty minutes.

Put in a basin one or two table-spoonfuls of curry powder (No. 455), a tea-spoonful of flour, and a tea-spoonful of salt; mix it smooth with a little cold water, put it into the stew-pan, and shake it well about till it boils: let it simmer twenty minutes longer; then take out the meat, and rub the sauce through a tamis or sieve: add to it two table spoonfuls of cream or milk; give it a boil up; then pour it into a dish, lay the meat over it: send up the rice in a separate dish.

_Obs._--Curry is made also with sweetbreads, breast of veal, veal cutlets, lamb, mutton or pork chops, lobster, turbot, soles, eels, oysters, &c.: prepared as above, or enveloped in No. 348.

_Obs._--This is a very savoury and economical dish, and a valuable variety at a moderate table. See Wow-wow sauce (No. 328).

_Stewed Rump-Steaks._--(No. 500.)

The steaks must be a little thicker than for broiling: let them be all the same thickness, or some will be done too little, and others too much.

Put an ounce of b.u.t.ter into a stew-pan, with two onions; when the b.u.t.ter is melted, lay in the rump-steaks, let them stand over a slow fire for five minutes, then turn them and let the other side of them fry for five minutes longer. Have ready boiled a pint of b.u.t.ton onions; they will take from half an hour to an hour; put the liquor they were boiled in to the steaks; if there is not enough of it to cover them, add broth or boiling water, to make up enough for that purpose, with a dozen corns of black pepper, and a little salt, and let them simmer very gently for about an hour and a half, and then strain off as much of the liquor (about a pint and a half) as you think will make the sauce.

Put two ounces of b.u.t.ter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as will make it into a stiff paste; some add thereto a table-spoonful of claret, or Port wine, the same of mushroom catchup (No. 439), half a tea-spoonful of salt, and a quarter of a tea-spoonful of ground black pepper: add the liquor by degrees; let it boil up for fifteen minutes; skim it, and strain it; serve up the steaks with the onions round the dish, and pour the gravy over.

Veal-cutlets or mutton-chops may be done the same way, or as veal-olives (No. 518).

This is generally a second-course dish, and is usually made too rich, and only fit to re-excite an appet.i.te already satiated. Our endeavour is to combine agreeable savouriness with substantial nourishment; those who wish to enrich our receipt, may easily add mushrooms, wine, anchovy, Cayenne, bay-leaves, &c.

_Obs._ Rump-steaks are in best condition from Michaelmas to lady-day. To ensure their being tender, give the butcher three or four days' notice of your wish for them.

_Broiled Rump-Steak with Onion Gravy._--(No. 501.) See also No. 299.

Peel and slice two large onions, put them into a quart stew-pan, with two table-spoonfuls of water; cover the stew-pan close, and set it on a slow fire till the water has boiled away, and the onions have got a little browned; then add half a pint of good broth,[312-*] and boil the onions till they are tender; strain the broth from them, and chop them very fine, and season it with mushroom catchup, pepper, and salt: put the onion into it, and let it boil gently for five minutes; pour it into the dish, and lay over it a broiled rump-steak. If instead of broth you use good beef gravy, it will be superlative.

? Stewed cuc.u.mber (No. 135) is another agreeable accompaniment to rump-steaks.

_Alamode Beef, or Veal._--(No. 502.)

In the 180 volumes on Cookery, we patiently pioneered through, before we encountered the tremendous labour and expense of proving the receipts of our predecessors, and set about recording these results of our own experiments, we could not find one receipt that approximated to any thing like an accurate description of the way in which this excellent dish is actually dressed in the best alamode beef shops; from whence, of course, it was impossible to obtain any information: however, after all, the whole of the secret seems to be the thickening of the gravy of beef that has been very slowly[313-*] stewed, and flavouring it with bay-leaves and allspice.

Take about eleven pounds of the mouse b.u.t.tock, or clod of beef, or a blade-bone, or the sticking-piece, or the like weight of the breast of veal; cut it into pieces of three or four ounces each; put three or four ounces of beef drippings, and mince a couple of large onions, and put them into a large deep stew-pan; as soon as it is quite hot, flour the meat, put it into the stew-pan, keep stirring it with a wooden spoon; when it has been on about ten minutes, dredge it with flour, and keep doing so till you have stirred in as much as you think will thicken it; then cover it with boiling water (it will take about a gallon), adding it by degrees, and stirring it together; skim it when it boils, and then put in one drachm of ground black pepper, two of allspice, and two bay-leaves; set the pan by the side of the fire, or at a distance over it, and let it stew very slowly for about three hours; when you find the meat sufficiently tender, put it into a tureen, and it is ready for table.

It is customary to send up with it a nice salad; see No. 372.

? To the above many cooks add champignons; but as these are almost always decayed, and often of deleterious quality, they are better left out, and indeed the bay-leaves deserve the same prohibition.

_Obs._ Here is a savoury and substantial meal, almost as cheap as the egg-broth of the miser, who fed his valet with the water in which his egg was boiled, or as the "_Potage a la Pierre, a la Soldat_,"[313-+]

mentioned by Giles Rose, in the 4th page of his dedication of the "perfect school of instruction for the officers of the mouth," 18mo.

London, 1682. "Two soldiers were minded to have a soup; the first of them coming into a house, and asking for all things necessary for the making of one, was as soon told that he could have none of those things there, whereupon he went away; the other, coming in with a stone in his knapsack, asked only for a pot to boil his stone in, that he might make a dish of broth of it for his supper, which was quickly granted him; when the stone had boiled a little while, he asked for a small piece of meat or bacon, and a few herbs and roots, &c. just merely to give it a bit of a flavour; till, by little and little, he got all things requisite, and so made an excellent pottage of his stone." See _Obs._ to No. 493.

_s._ _d._ Onions, pepper, allspice, and bay-leaves 0 3 11 pounds of beef 3 8 ------- Made eight quarts 3 11

_i. e._ sixpence per quart.

_To pot Beef, Veal, Game, or Poultry, &c._--(No. 503.)

Take three pounds of lean gravy beef, rub it well with an ounce of saltpetre, and then a handful of common salt; let it lie in salt for a couple of days, rubbing it well each day; then put it into an earthen pan or stone jar that will just hold it; cover it with the skin and fat that you cut off, and pour in half a pint of water; cover it close with paste, and set it in a very slow oven for about four hours; or prepare it as directed in No. 496.

When it comes from the oven, drain the gravy from it into a basin; pick out the gristles and the skins; mince it fine; moisten it with a little of the gravy you poured from the meat, which is a very strong consomme (but rather salt), and it will make excellent pease soup, or browning (see No. 322); pound the meat patiently and thoroughly in a mortar with some fresh b.u.t.ter,[314-*] till it is a fine paste (to make potted meat smooth there is nothing equal to plenty of elbow-grease); seasoning it (by degrees, as you are beating it,) with a little black pepper and allspice, or cloves pounded, or mace, or grated nutmeg.

Put it in pots, press it down as close as possible, and cover it a quarter of an inch thick with clarified b.u.t.ter; to prepare which, see receipt No. 259, and if you wish to preserve it a long time, over that tie a bladder. Keep it in a dry place.